Doshi is a fairly common

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

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. The roots can be traced back a few hundred years. There were different stories — one is from the ''History of

Oswal The Oswal (sometimes spelled Oshwal or Osval) are a Śvētāmbara, Śvetāmbara Jain merchant community with origins in Osian, Jodhpur, Osian, a town in the Marwar region of Rajasthan, India. According to research by James Tod, Colonel James Tod, ...

s'' basically from

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

original Sonigra Kshatriya Rajput. Also Doshi surname people follow Jainism in Gujarat region.

History

According to ''Oswal Jain Gyati Mahodya'' (ancient book on the history of Oswals) the Doshi are descended from Thakur Heer Singh Sonigara, ruler of Bhatia (old name of

Jaisalmer Jaisalmer , nicknamed ''The Golden city'', is a city in the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan, located west of the state capital Jaipur, in the heart of the Thar Desert. It serves as the administrative headquarters of Jaisalmer district ...

) in Rajasthan in 160 AD. A Gujarati story which

Narsinh Mehta Narsinh Mehta, also known as Narsinh Bhagat, was a 15th-century poet-saint of Gujarat, India, honored as the first poet, or ''Adi Kavi,'' of the Gujarati language. Narsinh Mehta is member of Nagar Brahman community. Narsinh became a devotee of ...

mentions the

Hindu deity Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist.Julius J. Lipne ...

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appearing as a ''doshi vanio''. A ''doshi'' was somebody who carried a ''dosh'', or a sack of grocery/clothes, to sell as he wandered. This is similar to another translation of ''doshi'' as a rough cloth seller. Most Gujaratis believe this is the story behind the last name "Doshi". A third possibility is a direct translation, taken literally from the

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

word ''dosh'' (meaning, in this case, guilt), defines ''doshi'' as someone who has been found guilty of a crime. A historical anecdote uses this definition of the word to explain how people assumed the name. According to Kishor Doshi, former president of the Houston Jain Society, the research he has done on this topic indicates ''Doshi'' was a last name given by a 16th-century king in

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

to all of his subjects who did not participate in a compulsory census. He pronounced them guilty (in Gujarati, ''doshi theravya''). Not many people believe in this possibility given the fact that the state of Gujarat was never under the rule of one king. Present day Gujarat is the result of a merger of more than 222 princely states.

Notable Doshi people

* Walchand Hirachand Doshi (b. 1882), an Industrialist *

Chaturbhuj Doshi Chaturbhuj Doshi (1894–1969) was a Hindi and Gujarati language, Gujarati writer-director of Indian cinema. He was one of the top Gujarati screenplay writers, who helped script stories for the Punatar productions. He is stated to be one of the ...

(b. 1894), an Indian film director * B. V. Doshi (b. 1927), an Indian architect * Navin Doshi (b. 1936), an Indian philanthropist * Dilip Doshi (b. 1947), an Indian cricketer * Saryu Doshi, Art scholar * Sushil Doshi, an Indian journalist * Tishani Doshi (b. 1975), an Indian poet * Nayan Doshi (b. 1978), an English cricketer * Avni Doshi (b. 1982), an American novelist * Darshan Doshi, an Indian drummer * Shiny Doshi, an Indian television actress *

Natasha Doshi Natasha Doshi Shah is an Indian actress and model who appears in Malayalam and Telugu films. She made her debut in 2012 with '' Manthrikan'', directed by Anil Kumar. Early life Born in Mumbai, Doshi began acting in childhood and is also a t ...

(b. 1993), an Indian actress * Rheeya Doshi, Singaporean tennis player

References

Surnames of Hindu origin Surnames of Indian origin {{India-ethno-stub